Finn Lillelund Aachmann

Background and activities

NMR spectrocopy on biological macromolecules

Research Interests

My main research interest is NMR-spectroscopy, especially NMR on biological macromolecules.

Alginate epimerases

Alginate is a biological copolymer consisting of two building blocks: mannuronic acid (M) and guluronic acid (G). The properties of the polymer depend largely on the relative composition and the distribution of these two subunits. Algae and some bacteria have devised a way to turn M into G by enzymatic epimerization at C5. A family of modular type enzymes (mannuronan C5-epimerases) has identified in Azotobacter vinelandii, and these enzymes are capable of converting M to G on polymer level. The deduced epimerase sequences consist of two types of structural modules, designated A (~385 amino acids each, with 1 or 2 copies) and R (~155 amino acids each, with one to seven copies). The structure of the A-module has been solved by crystallography (PDB code: 2PYG, 2PYH). We have solved the structure of the R-module by NMR ( PDB code: 2AGM). This work is in collaboration with Reinhard Wimmer, Aalborg University, Denmark and Hideo Iwai, University of Helsinki, Finland.

Selenoproteins

Selenium and selenoproteins is known to be essential for many life forms. Selenoprotein are in general characterized as redox proteins but still their specific function and structure are largely unknown. We have determined the structure of selenoproteinW (SelW) by NMR ( PDB code: 2NPB). Furthermore, we were able to prove that SelW interact with 14-3-3 proteins. Currently, we are working on the structure and reaction mechanism of selenocystinine containing methionine-r-sulfoxide reductase (MsrB1) ( PDB code: 2KAO) and cystinine counter part MsrB2.

Cyclodextrins and their inclusion complexes

Cyclodextrins are circulated glycosyl units with the ability to make inclusion complexes with a large variety of hydrophobic molecules. Cyclodextrins have broad application in many industrial purposes, e.g. as separation material, and as additives in food and pharmaceuticals. We try to find out more about the geometry of inclusion complexes and about the rules governing their formation. Furthermore, my main focus is the application of cyclodextrin in the field of molecular genetics and protein expression and purification.

Complex and modified sugar molecules

NOBIPOLs activity in tailoring, modification and finding new sugar molecules demand both quantitative and qualitative characterisation. A unique tool for this kind of work is NMR spectroscopy by giving atomic level structurally information and have high dynamic in its detection range.